Churches criticise Israeli curbs on Orthodox Easter event in Jerusalem

Church leaders in Jerusalem say Israeli police are imposing "heavy-handed and unnecessary restrictions" on access to an important Orthodox Easter ritual.

They say numbers who can attend Saturday's Holy Fire ceremony at the Holy Sepulchre Church are being limited to 1,800, down from 10,000 last year.

The police, who control security in occupied East Jerusalem, say they are ensuring safety and freedom of worship.

Church officials are now urging Christians to ignore the restrictions.

"We will hold the ceremony and invite all who wish to worship with us to attend," Father Mattheos Siopsis of the Greek Orthodox Church told a news conference on Wednesday, also attended by representatives of other denominations governing the holy site.

"With that made clear, we leave the [Israeli] authorities to act as they will. The churches will freely worship and do so in peace."

The call to local Christians and foreign pilgrims could lead to chaotic scenes in the Old City, where police have set up extra security checkpoints.

Last year, videos shared on social media showed scuffles with worshippers as officers turned them away from the church.

The Holy Fire ritual can be traced back centuries and typically takes place amid packed crowds in the holiest site in Christianity.

During the ceremony, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch accompanied by the Armenian Patriarch enters a small room above what is believed to have been the tomb of Jesus.

He emerges with candles said to have been lit by a miracle and the flames are quickly shared around the packed church and with local Christians and foreign pilgrims waiting in the narrow streets nearby. It is transported to local Orthodox churches and even flown overseas.

In a joint statement, church leaders said the Israeli authorities were "enforcing unreasonable, and unprecedented restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulchre - more so than last year".

They added that these would particularly affect the local Christian community.

There is criticism of the police's decision to locate 200 officers inside the church building.

The Israeli police had previously issued a video statement showing officers in and around the Holy Sepulchre.

"Police have been sitting with community leaders and Church leaders themselves to prepare for the large amount of crowds due to arrive in a very confined space," says police spokesperson, Master Sergeant Dean Elsdunne.

"We have also sat with external engineers who have told us there is a limit to the crowd size that is allowed inside of the church and due to these statements by the engineers we are limiting the crowds."

Police have previously said that they were taking action to prevent another disaster after a crowd stampede in 2021 at Mount Meron, a Jewish pilgrimage site in northern Israel, left 45 people dead.

However, Christian leaders say their ceremony has long taken place without serious incidents.

Tensions have been high in Jerusalem in recent days, during which Easter has overlapped with the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

On Sunday, police stood guard as thousands of Jewish worshippers poured into the Old City, packing the Western Wall plaza, for the priestly blessing of Passover. The site is the holiest place where Jews can pray.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister announced that Jewish visitors would be barred from the al-Aqsa mosque compound for the sensitive last 10 days of Ramadan, following security consultations.

The decision, which was criticised by Israel's far-right national security minister, was in line with longstanding Israeli policy to try to reduce friction at the holy site.

The al-Aqsa mosque, also known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, is the third holiest place in Islam. It is known by Jews as the Temple Mount and is the holiest site in Judaism.

There were violent scenes last week after Israeli police raided the mosque.

They said they were acting against "masked agitators" who had barricaded themselves inside with fireworks.

Social media videos showing police beating Palestinians with sticks and a rifle butt in the prayer hall brought regional condemnation.